Overview

BSc Business is a career-focused business and management programme, with an ethos of ethics and sustainability, incorporating extensive work placements with an exclusive opportunity to customise your degree by choosing modules designed to inspire the next generation of business graduates.

Based at our Penryn Campus, Cornwall, the programme is designed to address the challenges in growing businesses in the current climate changing era. We will help you develop a set of graduate skills which are hugely relevant to 21st century businesses, from a local and global perspective.

Cornwall has created a strong, sustainable economy, with a diverse mix of industries and internationally renowned strengths in the environmental, marine, aerospace, ICT, creative and food and drink sectors. It is the perfect place to experience the world of work and to develop your personal and employability skills whilst gaining credits towards your degree.

Throughout your study at Penryn, you will complete project work in business, including work placements with local and regional companies. In your final year you will be given a consultancy project with one of those companies, responding to a real world problem that they need your help to resolve.

BSc Business will prepare you for a professional career in a wide range of sectors including e-commerce, marketing, manufacturing and/or wholesale, management relations, environmental consultancy or social enterprise.

Our curriculum is made up of core modules and specialist options, allowing you to select those that are most relevant to you.

There is no shortage of ordinary business degrees around, indeed choosing the right one for you can be quite overwhelming. You need to check that the vocabulary and content of the degree you are looking at is fit for purpose in the 21st Century. I am confident that BSc Business is a future facing degree. It provides the business fundamentals but incorporates exciting, distinctive content you will need to help you demonstrate confidence and creativity in the workplace.

Scholarships available for 2019 entry

We are pleased to offer a number of £2,000 scholarships to students holding an offer to study the BSc Business programme on the Penryn Campus (Cornwall). Scholarship applications open in January 2019 and close Wednesday 1st May 2019.

To be eligible you must be holding an offer from the University of Exeter Business School to study the BSc Business programme, for September 2019 entry.

The Scholarships are competitive and require you to submit a 1500 word essay on what you consider to be: "The Business Challenges in your Region".

Scholarships are not awarded in conjunction with other scholarships – in the event of you being eligible for more than one award the greater award will be given.

How to apply

Applicants must complete their 1500 word essay and submit it with the application form. This will be available in January 2019 when applications open.

BSc Business Blog

Find out more about BSc Business by keeping up-to-date with our BSc Business Blog. The blog addresses what makes BSc Business unique, life at Penryn, and the latest research at the Business School on Penryn Campus. Content is updated on a monthly basis.

Programme structure

The modules we outline here provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.

You may take option modules as long as any necessary prerequisites have been satisfied, where the timetable allows and if you have not already taken the module in question or an equivalent module.

The Programme Teaching team comprises of: dynamic researchers, management educationalists and business practitioners with expertise in a diverse range of business and management topics including those with direct impact on the local and global economy such as sustainability, entrepreneurship, supply management, innovation, social sciences, the service industries including public sector and tourism.

Entry requirements 2019

Typical offer

Required subjects

Additional selection criteria

We are looking for well-qualified students with a genuine interest in and enthusiasm for the subject.

In addition to the specific requirements listed above, we look for excellent A level* results/predictions and we may also take into account results up to and including GCSEs* and AS Levels* as part of our holistic assessment of an application.

*Equivalent qualifications will be considered. For more information about our equivalencies for specific qualifications please contact our Admissions Office.

International students considering direct entry to year two may be interested in our International Year One in Accounting and Finance programme. This course is for international students who have completed A-levels or equivalent, or who are already in the first year of a relevant undergraduate degree in their home country, but do not meet the academic or English language requirements for direct entry at University of Exeter.

Further information

For full and up-to-date information on applying to Exeter and entry requirements, including requirements for other types of qualification, please see the Applying section.

Learning and teaching

Although lectures are one of the main forms of teaching, you will also learn through participation in workshops, tutorials and seminars. As well as tackling case studies, discussing current issues in business and debating key theories, you will also develop presentation, team working, communication and problem solving skills. You’ll have a personal tutor who is available for advice and support throughout your studies.

Assessment

Modules are normally assessed either by exam alone or by a mix of assessed work and written exams. Assessed work includes essays, case studies, projects, group work and presentations. You will have to pass the assessments in your first year to proceed to the second year but they do not count towards your final degree classification.

Module choice

Option modules can extend beyond Business if you are studying a Single Honours degree: dependent on timetable constraints, pre-requisites and programme structure, it may be possible to study option modules outside your subject area.

Study hours

Timetabled contact hours, made up of lectures, seminars and tutorials, vary over the duration of programmes and between programmes and are on average between 11 and 14 hours. In addition, you will be expected to complete an average of 20-25 hours of independent or group study per week.

International study

Enhance your degree with international experience

Your experience at the University of Exeter Business School can reach far beyond South West England: studying abroad comes in different packages and is open to all.

We are very proud of our reputation as a truly international business school. With students from over 80 countries and staff from over 30, you’ll find yourself in an exciting, diverse and global environment that will give you the chance to get a unique insight into how business works around the world.

You are able to significantly enhance your global outlook by taking part in either a year abroad or short-term study abroad options.

Why Study Abroad?

Studying abroad allows you to experience of international cultures, values, and languages which can crucially enhance your professional skill set. Living and studying in a new country will enhance your adaptability, cross-cultural communication, self-confidence and resilience as well as stimulate creative thinking. Having real world examples of these skills can significantly strengthen your CV and employability. Studying abroad in a different country with students from all around the world is also a great way to build and expand your global network.

A report by Universities UK International (UUKI) shows that graduates who were mobile during their degree were less likely to be unemployed after graduation, and those in work were more likely to be in a graduate level job (76.4% compared to 69.9%) and more likely to earn 5% more than their non-mobile peers.*

Year Abroad

All of our undergraduate degrees offer you the opportunity to spend an extra year of study or work abroad. This is offered during your third year of study with us and can be spent at one of our wide range of European or international partner universities. If you’re opting for Europe then you could combine a semester of study abroad with a semester long work placement.

You can choose between placements where you will be taught either in English or in the native language. Our Foreign Language Centre offers optional language modules to all students, whatever your level. If you are a linguist, then why not combine advanced study in your language, or a new language such as Japanese or Chinese, with an outstanding student experience on one of our leading business programmes?

Summer Schools

Each year we promote approximately 50 short-term study opportunities allowing students from all degree programmes to spend 2-6 weeks abroad at one of our partner universities. These short-term study abroad options can include a variety of business-related courses, local company visits, and cultural and language elements. This opportunity allows students to experience the benefits of studying abroad in a shorter time period and could be the perfect insight into the full year abroad option.

There is a diverse range of options, so you could choose to study an intensive set of modules on marketing in Northern Europe, or submerse yourself in the culture and language of South East Asia. For a select number of programmes there is also the possibility to transfer the credits earned to count towards your University of Exeter degree.

Careers

The BSc Business programme will prepare you for a professional career in a wide range of sectors including e-commerce, marketing, manufacturing and/or wholesale, management relations, environmental consultancy or social enterprise.

A degree in a business related subject will also help you develop a wide range of employable skills such as analytical problem solving, teamwork, research, and organising and communicating information.

Work placement

Throughout your study you will complete compulsory short-term work placements in your first and second year and a consultancy project in your final year. These work placements will give you valuable experience in a variety of industries and are complemented by a core ‘Employability’ module in each year of study.

With Industrial Experience

In addition to this, our optional ‘with Industrial Experience’ programme gives you the opportunity to put into further practice some of the experience and knowledge you’ve gained in your first two years. This means that you’ll come back to us for your fourth and final year well-equipped with practical experience in your chosen area of study. What’s more, your short and long-term placements will give you a proven employment track record and extra confidence when you set out to find your first graduate job.

We encourage all of our students to consider spending their third year of study “out in the field” – either abroad on one of our with European or with International programmes or in the UK on our with Industrial Experience programme. See what our students have to say about their placements by looking at our industrial placement student profiles.

Programme Coordinator

Why study in Cornwall?

As soon as I visited Penryn Campus on the Open Day I knew it was the perfect place for me to study. The buildings are set in beautiful grounds, the accommodation is spacious and good value, and everything you need is right on your doorstep.

The campus is really relaxed and laid back and there is a real sense of pride and ownership about how unique this campus is: there really is nowhere else that offers so many fantastic opportunities in such an amazing location.

Charlotte Barry, Current Student.

Our Penryn Campus

Find out more about studying at our Penryn Campus in Cornwall

The University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus offers the very latest academic, research and residential facilities and is made up of around 4,000 students providing a friendly and energetic atmosphere.

Cornwall has created a strong, sustainable economy, with a diverse mix of industries and internationally renowned strengths in the environmental, marine, aerospace, Information Communications Technology (ICT), creative and food and drink sectors.

A new £5.5 million building is under construction on the Campus which will feature a specially designed area for business engagement called ‘The Collaboratory’ from which dedicated staff, along with the University’s Knowledge Exchange team, will lead a number of long-term research and business support projects with selected local business partners.

The Penryn Campus rates consistently in the Top 10 for student satisfaction.

Campus tours

Campus tours enable you to see the campus facilities and view the halls of residence; they run every Wednesday and Friday afternoon at 13:30 and last for an hour and a half.

Sometimes it is possible to arrange meetings with academic staff either before or after your campus tour, subject to their availability. If you would like to book an appointment with a member of staff, please contact the department directly by emailing Ali Bearhop or Stephen Hickman.